


The Stormcloak's wife

by Magicunicornofdoom



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Cheating, Domestic Violence, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Forbidden Love, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Infidelity, Physical Abuse, Sneaking Around
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-18 12:07:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21710488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magicunicornofdoom/pseuds/Magicunicornofdoom
Summary: The wife of a Stormcloak Solider falls in love with an Orc.
Relationships: Female Reader/Ghorbash, Ghorbash the Iron Hand/Reader, Ghorbash/Reader, Human/Orc, Orismer/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 77





	1. Chapter 1

"I really do not wish to do this, mother." You desperately attempted to plea to avoid the marriage that would be taking place.  
"Hush, you should be happy that a man wishes to marry you." Your mother spoke as she held up yet another dress to your body to see if that would fit you.  
"Mother, I don't want to marry Joruold! He's so cruel towards non-Nords." You pleaded.  
"That just means he's a true Nord."  
"Mother, we're not even Nords!" You exclaimed, before your mother held up a hand to signal you to stop speaking.  
"He said that Breton's were close enough to a Nord woman. Now hush and try on this dress."

The journey to Riften had been the longest weeks of your life. Leaving your home of Markarth to travel all the way to Riften had been something you were not pleased about one bit.  
Many times you had considered jumping from the carriage and fleeing into the woods to join the Forsworn.. though that had stopped crossing your mind when you recalled that you wouldn't be welcomed with open arms.  
It had been about 3 weeks before you got to Riften, and you truly believed the Divines had been trying to stop the marriage.  
First, a wheel of the carriage had fallen off. Then a storm came which caused you to have to stay within Whiterun for 4 extra days, and finally bandits had raided your carriage and stole nothing but your amulet of Mara.   
However, none of that had stopped your mother from believing this was a terrific idea.

The wedding day had came, and you were dressed in fine clothing and wore a newly purchased Amulet of Mara. Tears had swelled in your eyes though they were not tears of joy as you should have during your wedding day.   
You stood next to your 'groom' and you felt the slight disgust growing within you. You had already heard him degrading some Elf and a poor Argonian worker. Divines you were disgusted.

'Now. Let's begin the ceremony. It was Mara that first gave birth to all of creation and pledged to watch over us as her children. It is from her love of us that we first learned to love one another..' Maramal spoke and you could feel your stomach aching, and could hear your heart pounding in your head.  
' It is from this love that we learn that a life lived alone is no life at all. We gather here today, under Mara's loving gaze, to bear witness to the union of two souls in eternal companionship. May they journey forth together in this life and the next, in prosperity and poverty, and in joy and hardship. Do you agree to be bound together, in love, now and forever?"'  
'I do, now and forever.' Joruold spoke with no emotion within his voice. Not anger, happiness, disgust. Nothing.  
"Do you agree to bound together, in love, now and forever?" Maramal asked you.  
You opened your mother to speak, but no words came out. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw your mother sitting there, a look of anger growing on her father.  
"..I.. do.." You started before swallowing the lump within your throat. "Now and forever."   
"Under the authority of Mara, the Divine of Love, I declare this couple to be wed. I present to the two of you with these matching rings, blessed by Mara's divine grace. May they protect each of you in your new life together." Maramal spoke as the rings were given to the both of you.  
Standing awkwardly next to your now husband, you glanced as people began to leave the temple already, and you turned to face Joruold.  
"You're not Nord but I guess you'll do." He spoke, and those words caused a bit of anger to grow within you. But you said nothing.  
"I already got us a room at an inn." He spoke again.  
"But shouldn't we be heading home? I mean it's a long journey.." Your voice trailed off as you heard Joruold laugh.  
"You think we're not going to consummate the wedding tonight? Divines are all Breton's this stupid?"  
You had no time to be angry at his words because rather you had fear growing within you. Marriage consummation!? Of course that was expected but for some reason you hadn't even thought about that!   
"Now hurry up, the sooner we get there, the sooner we're done." Joruold roughly grabbed your arm and began to pull you towards the Inn.  
Your feet attempted to dig into the ground to stop him from pulling you, but alas it was all in vain and before you knew it, you were within a room at the The Bee and Barb, wishing to be elsewhere. 

It had been a month since the wedding and you absolutely despised every moment of it. Every day you awoke to your bed being empty, you prayed to the divines that your husband would have been killed during his guard duty.   
You were sure that the divines weren't happy at all with your prayers, but you couldn't help it. You were so sick of your husband. His words so cruel, he clearly was biased towards the Nords. Always agreeing with them even if they were wrong.  
Gods.. you should just leave. Leave Markath and flee to Solitude, Whiterun.. literally anywhere but here.  
Today had been a day that you woke up alone, thank the gods. Normally you would go and enjoy a day of practicing your smithing, or maybe even going and shopping around. But you had decided that today you would decide to leave for a bit.   
Leave the safety of Markarth, and go into the dangerous world. Anything would be better than being with Joruold.  
Slipping into your thick cloak in case it got gold, and grabbing a small basket to collect flowers and anything else that you may come upon.

Leaving had been a good choice. The sun was shining down upon you, and you walked down the dirt pathway towards Divines know where. But that was the least of your worries right now. You had a dagger for protection and knew many spells. You were a Breton after all!   
During your journey, had came across a few packs of wolves, two bears and a few random people wondering around. The wolves had been easy to deal with as they simply lost interest when they saw a huge elk running by, and the bears had wondered away from the pathway to go and lay near a stream.  
Perhaps you were secretly being watched by a Bosmer who was protecting you, though you doubted that.  
Your thoughts were completely stopped when you saw a wooden fence, outlooks and the top of a house peeking out from being the fence.  
You blinked as you slowly pushed open the wooden gate and you nearly froze when you saw what you had arrived at. It was a Stronghold.. a Orsimer stronghold.

You slowly began to close the gate, but was stopped when you heard someone's voice.  
"Halt, Trespasser." The voice spoke, the voice firm and harsh.  
You froze, and slowly turned back towards it. It had to be the chief of the stronghold.. just based off all you knew about the Orsimer culture.  
"Outlander, what are you doing trespassing on Orismer land?" The chief questioned.  
It was only now that you noticed all the Orc eyes staring at you. Clearly waiting for some form of a response.   
"I.. I am sorry, I had been stupid and entered without even considering what could be on the other side." You spoke honestly.  
Truly why had you done something like that? For all you knew it was a Bandit camp or even a forsworn camp!   
"Hmph." The chief simply replied before looking towards the female orc that stood next to him.   
Should you even say anything? Or should you just walk away?   
You honestly had no clue what to do.  
"I apologize again, I never meant to trespass." You finally spoke up and the Chief stared you down.  
"Your apology is accepted, you had been naive. But do not let this happen again." You quickly nodded your head in agreement.   
With that, you rushed back home, though that was the last place that you had dreamed to be.


	2. Chapter two: Becoming Blood-kin.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joruold discovers his wife has a soft spot for Orcs. He is not pleased.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter contains physical/emotional abuse and implied/threats of sexual assault.

A few days had passed since you had visited the strong hold, having discovered by Moth gro-Bagol the stronghold she had went too was called 'Dushnikh Yal'  
Seeing how you trained in smithing, of course you were friends with Moth gro-Bagol and his sister, Ghorza gra-Bagol.   
However, that was something that Joruold was not pleased about what so ever. How dare you be friends with those.. creatures. Those disgusting brutes.

Currently, you were doing your domestic duties within the home you shared with Joruold. Little did you know, he had had a terrible night and you would certainly be dealing with it tonight.  
As you set the table with a bowl of venison soup and Horker loaf, you heard the front door slam open.  
You jumped, and felt your heart starting to race intensely. Divines protect you now.   
You could hear Joruold muttering under his breath, and heard his armor being tossed onto the ground before he walked into the dining hall.   
"There you are." He spoke as he walked over towards you.   
"I saw you talking to those damned disgusting brutes today." He stated to you, which caused you to frown.   
"They're not any of those things. I was simply learning how to smith from them." You spoke plainly as you sat down to eat.  
But, Joruold was not pleased with that reply. Within the blink of an eye, he had smashed basically everything off the table. The soup had hit you, and you jumped up as you felt the fear growing within you.  
"You stupid cow. Even a dog has higher intelligence that you. You don't think those brutes aren't going to try and kill you?!" Joruold yelled at you, grabbing your arm roughly and pulling you against him.  
"You probably like the idea of them taking you. You probably love the idea of some orc raping you." Joruold said with a small laugh leaving his lips.  
"I should just go and take you to some bandits and let them do what they want with you. Or take you to the Forsworn, I am sure that they would love you."   
You could feel anger, disgust and worry growing within you. He was never the kindest man, but he never spoke like this to you before.   
"I bet you just love the idea of being used as they're little toy, huh? That's why you never wanted a Nord husband. You wanted some brute to fuck into a blood plup."  
He grabbed your arm and began to drag you over towards the bed.  
"Joruold, please stop." You begged him but that just got you a slap across the face.   
You flinched and felt him tossing you onto the bed. "Shut up, you stupid cow."   
"You don't think a Nord man could do the same thing? I'll more than happily fuck you so hard that you bleed."   
"Joruold, please. I never said I wanted an orc.. I was learning how to smith!" You begged desperately.   
"Did I not just tell you to shut up?" He questioned to you as he crawled on top of you.  
You felt the tears began to escape your eyes and you desperately tried to break free from his grasp.  
But, of course that just earned yet another slap across your face.   
And, your desperate attempts to escape didn't work in bit and you had one of the worst nights of your life.

Morning time came around, and you had awoken alone again. Thank the divines for this.  
Your body ached, and you knew that you were covered in bruises and cuts. You forced yourself out of bed, feeling the pain striking through your body.  
Joruold had not lied when he said he wold make you bloody, it seemed.   
You limped your way towards the bathing chambers, staring at yourself in the reflection of the water basin.   
Your eye was blackened, there was visible hand marks on your cheek, and you even looked like your face had become swollen.  
Tears slipped through your eyes as you began to wash your face, hoping to remove some of the blood that sat upon your skin.   
You had to get out to get out of here..but you had no clue how. Your mother had left after your marriage and moved to Whiterun, believing her trading business would get more income there. You had no other family in Skyrim.  
No aunts, uncles or even cousins to flee too. Your only hope would be to leave on your own.. maybe head to Windhelm and catch a boat to Solstheim, or maybe you could attempt to flee back to your homeland of High Rock.. though that was a lot easier said than done.  
Divines help you now, you needed a way out of here before it got even worse.

You had left your house, being informed by one of your husband's friends that he was out guarding the Cidhna Mines today. Good. You didn't want to accidentally bump into him anywhere today.  
You held your basket yet again, this time full of random items in case you wished to sell something to a few of the traders, and of course carried coin with you. You had enough to stay the night at the inn if you really really wanted too. But that.. that may end up with you getting more abuse when you got home.  
"What in Malacath name happened to you?" A voice questioned, and you knew who it was right away. It was Ghorza. You hadn't even noticed that you had wondered back towards the smithing area.  
"Nothing." Was your response and Ghorza just huffed towards you before shaking his head.   
"What are you doing?" You questioned, deciding to try and speak to him. Your husband wasn't out and about so you could talk without fear of him seeing you.  
Ghorza gra-Bagol let out a small sigh before shaking her head. "I'm looking for a Daedra Heart for my brother. He needs it for something.. he's making, or something like that. I don't know. He just asked for one."   
Your eyes lit up for a moment before she began to think. "I have one." You commented.  
"Do you? Well if you want some armor then you should go give it to my brother. He might appreciate it. I know I will so I don't have to go searching for one."  
Finally, you could do something right and help people! "I am going to do that right away." You commented before rushing off.  
Of course you had a Daedra Heart for your potion creating. It had been so hard to come into possession, in fact how you got it wasn't completely.. lawful. But you got it!

You arrived at Understone Keep, being welcomed in by the guards since you had came here so often. Never to speak to the Jarl, but always to visit Moth gro-Bagol.   
"I heard you were looking for a Daedra Heart." You spoke to your old orc pal, who nodded his head.  
"Yeah I..hmph.. need it for.. something." He finally huffed out as he attempted to break a piece of metal seemingly with his own hands.. you wouldn't question it though.  
"I have one for you." You held out the heart and his eyes lit up.   
"Thank you, here.. as a reward." He spoke as he turned and grabbed a chest piece of Orchish armor.   
"And, I am going to send word to Dushnikh Yal that you are Blood-Kin."  
You didn't need to ask what Blood-Kin was, as you already knew, but that didn't stop you from being rather excited to actually gain access to Dushnikh Yal, the place you had learned that you had stumbled upon not to long ago.  
"Thank you.. I think I may go there and try to trade there." You spoke, though Moth was no longer listening and instead he was back at work.   
Dushnikh Yal... perhaps going to visit there again would turn out better for you next time?


	3. Chapter three: Dushnikh Yal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You arrive to Dushnikh Yal, and meet an Orc that catches your eye.

You felt a bundle of nerves within your body as you approached the familiar wooden gates of Dushnikh Yal.  
It had been only two days since you had became 'Blood-Kin' not as if that was something life changing, but the days had seemed long since you were beyond overjoyed at the idea of being able to truly be welcomed into a Stronghold!  
You had no clue as to why you wanted to visit Dushnikh Yal. You were no Orc, nor did you really use the armor or need weapons from them but.. something just interested you about it. In reality it was probably just the desire to escape your terrible husband.. that had to be it.  
"Okay.. just go in, you're welcomed in.. you are Blood-kin.." You repeated to yourself as you opened the gate.   
The group looked at you again, but this time said nothing. Almost as if they hadn't noticed that you had snuck your way on into the Stronghold again.   
"I was informed that you are now Blood-Kin. You are welcomed here.. so long as you don't do anything to disrespect us." The chief spoke to you as you made eye contact with him.  
You nodded your head towards him, "Of course, I will not do anything to disrespect anyone." You swore, which just caused the Chief to exhale from his nose and go back to talking to, what you assumed to be, his wife.  
You wondered throughout the Stronghold, admiring the craftsmanship of the weapons and armor, then admiring the potions.. so much to look at with such little time.  
Truly this was something you had never seen before and it amazed you. It slightly made you jealous just to see how skilled some were at making potions, that was something you were still trying to learn! And smithing? No way you could ever match an Orc woman's work!

You were stopped when you heard the sound of metal hitting metal. It was a sound you knew well, someone was training.  
You turned and made your way over towards the man. Why? You didn't know. But you did notice that the man had stopped his swinging and turned to face you, sweat dripping down his Dark green face.  
"Oh, I apologize for distracting you.." You spoke, making the Orc man shake his head.  
"You weren't distracting me. You clearly need something" He stated to you as he stared at your face.  
"You must've had one great fight."  
Great.. yes, a great fight. One that you would sooner forget than remember. And one that you, with certainty, had lost.  
"Yeah.." Your voice trailed off, and he seemed to take the cue not to question more about it.   
"I used to wander the corners of Skyrim like you. I miss those days" The man spoke, making you shake your head.  
"I don't really wander.. I live nearby in Markarth. But you miss traveling?' You decided to stop rambling.  
"I do. There is a freedom the roads give you that the stronghold does not. But I have a place here, and I wouldn't want to dishonor my clan by leaving again like some young pup."  
You felt pity for him, seeing how you knew that there was no way that he could just up and leave. You had the desire to travel as well.. get out of here, seeing places you had never seen before. Just get out of the stone city of Markarth.. truly a dream come true.  
"What do you do here?" You questioned, since you weren't sure if he was a guard or something. Of course you weren't well versed in what they did in this Stronghold.. yet.  
"Me? I'm the Chief, Burguk's, brother. I came back after serving many years in the Legion. By then, my brother had already become chief and he welcomed me home as family. Not as a rival as in tradition."   
The legion? He was a veteran? Your father.. he had been apart of the Legion. In fact, that had been what ended up taking his life. He had ended up dying from an infection after he lost his arm from some weird accident of his armor getting stuck to the saddle of his horse and his horse attempting to run away. You had been told that story in vivid detail from your mother many times.. not a great bedtime story for little 5 year old you.  
You wanted to ask more, see if perhaps he had met your father before but you realized you may of been being too invasive with your questions. You hadn't even asked his name!  
"My father was in the legion as well, long ago.. I am (Name)." You finally introduced.   
"Ghorbash the Iron Hand. Though back in those days I was known as Ghorbash gro-Dushnikh. In honor of my homeland." Ghorbash explained to you.  
"You say your father was in the Legion? Maybe I met him. I met many in those days so it's possible. But I don't think I'd remember names.." Ghorbash spoke, and you nodded your head in agreement towards him. Not remembering one soldier's name wasn't uncommon. It wasn't like your father was a general or something.   
"Well Ghorbash.. it was wonderful meeting you. But I should really let you get back to doing what you were doing."  
"I welcome your presence anytime, Outlander." Ghorbash spoke before drawing his sword and going back to his practice.

Ghorbash the Iron Hand.. such an interesting man. And, for some reason, you felt a pull towards him. An interest to learn more, almost as if he had ignited a fire within you like you had never felt before.  
As you saw the sun starting to lower, you reluctantly headed home. Though really you had wished to stay at this stronghold for even longer.


	4. Chapter four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't think of a chapter name.

_One, two, three..._ the bed squeaked and thumped against the wall.  
 _Four.. five..six._ Joruold grunted as his hands roamed over your body.  
 _Seven.. eight.. nine._ This had to be over soon enough, he never lasted that long. Twenty or thirty thrusts at the most.  
As you turned your head towards the side and stared at the wall, you attempted to take your mind somewhere else. This certainly wasn't what you wanted.  
Your mind shifted to Ghorbash, the Orc you had been visiting for a few weeks now. The only man that seemed to truly care about you, even though he didn't express it all that much.  
 _Fifteen..sixteen_. Your eyes closed as you let images of Ghorbash fill you mind, pretending as if your husband was the Orc that you had falling for so quickly.   
_Twenty-two.... Twenty-three.. grunt, fall over._ Joruold was laying there, panting next to you as if he had been at it for an hour. It had been, at the most, ten minutes.  
At least your husband didn't last long so you could get it done and over with quicker.  
"Divines that was great. I am getting better every time." Joruold cheered himself on, causing you to roll your eyes and sit up to go and clean yourself up.

Joruold spoke a lot to you about wanting to have a child with you. It was something a lot of people wished to have as soon as possible since the world was so uncertain. People wanted children to carry on their family name, a legacy, whatever it may be. It was something that was expected of you, and something you had been preparing for even when you were younger.  
So with Joruold seemingly craving to want a child, he had been attempting to place a child into your womb. You couldn't help but wonder if maybe it was his own jealousy that caused him to want to get you pregnant. If you had his child, then everyone would know that you were his.. even if you didn't want it.  
After cleaning yourself yourself up, you laid back into bed and turned to face the wall. Your eyes closed again and imagines of Ghorbash filled your mind again. Imaging him cuddling you.. kissing you. And that seemed to help you rest a bit more soundly that night.

Morning time had came and you were roughly shaken awake by Joruold. You let out a small groan as you opened your eyes and stared at the man.  
"(Name) wake up. I have wonderful news." For the first time, you saw Joruold looking.. happy? How strange.  
"You do? What is it?" Your voice sounded groggy, but you didn't really care.  
"Galmar Stone-Fist, he invited me to join the Stormcloaks!" His voice sounded like a child getting a sweet-roll.  
"Did he now? That's nice." You replied but your husband shook his head towards you.   
"You do not understand, we will be moving to Windhelm so I can fight with them. Finally I will be doing something to help this land and rid it of the scum."  
Moving? That word caused you to basically shoot up from the bed. Not only were you not enjoying the idea of moving from your home, but you hated the idea of being in Windhelm with all those perverted soldiers. The Imperials weren't much better, but at least they didn't show such favoritism towards Nords!  
"Do you think moving is that good of an idea? We do not have much gold and we may not be able to afford a home.." No way did you want to move from Markarth.. you'd be away from Ghorbash..  
"We will live in an inn for the time being. Now pack up.. we will be leaving soon." He didn't even ask if you were okay with it.. and certainly you weren't.

 _"I will be back tomorrow morning. I am doing a night shift so I have more gold for the move."_ That was what your husband told you at dinner, and you would certainly accept it.  
It was nearly ten at night, the sun had long since sunk below the sky and you had decided you would travel to Dushnikh Yal.. it was a bad idea, dangerous but you didn't care. You didn't want to leave Markarth, you didn't want to leave all the friends you had made at Dushnikh Yal.. and you didn't want to leave Ghorbash, or at least you didn't want to leave him without saying goodbye.

You slowly crept through the pathway, avoiding any and all that you could.  
During you journey, you had to fight off a few spiders, and avoiding a few vampires.. or what you assumed to be vampires seeing how they were walking through the woods at night!  
Though you had not been attacked by any creature, you didn't arrive to Dushnikh Yal unharmed. No, you had slipped and fell onto a pile of rocks so you knees became scratched and your elbows grew red. Damn it. You should have worn armor to avoid this and to avoid possibly dying! Why would you even go out when you were in just simple furs? So stupid. You knew that the Orcs would have a hayday making fun of you for coming out like this.. in such a dangerous area. Forsworn, vampires, the wildlife. Truly what were you thinking?  
Hearing a branch crack, you withdrew your sword and stopped walking. Now the training that Ghorbash had given you would come in handy.. maybe.

_"Come on, you can swing better than that." Ghorbash exclaimed as he watched you weakly swing your blade at the hay pile. Much safer to practice on than his training dummy.  
"No I can't, I tried my best!" You sighed as you let your arm limply fall to the side. You were certainly no fighter, that was easy to see.  
Ghorbash let out a sigh and shook his head. "You're not putting the right amount of effort into it, (name). You're swinging completely with your arm. Not using your shoulder or anything!"  
You wanted to protest, but clearly he knew better than you. After all you were the one failing completely on your swing.   
"Let me show you." Ghorbash walked over to you, placing his arms upon your shoulder and began to slowly show you how to properly swing your arm. Your attention, however, had not been set on his talking of how to swing fast and hit hard, but rather at the feeling of his hands on you.  
He was such a large person, but his grip on you was so delicate. As if he thought you would shatter if he held you harshly. His coarse hands hit your skin, and by the Divines you were in love with the feeling.  
"You got all that?" Ghorbash asked, causing you to snap out of your fantasy and nodded your head.  
"Good, now try again." He said as he pointed to the hay.. and so you did.  
  
_Scared was the only word that popped into your head as you tried to imagine what could be popping up behind you any moment now. What if it was a vampire? Or a werewolf!? Divines protect you. Your shaking hands grip your dagger as you turned towards the sound of another branch breaking. Oh this was it.. you would have to face whatever it was.  
"(Name)?" The familiar voice of Nagrub, one of the Orcs from the Stronghold, rang through your ears and you felt a certain amount of relief that you haven't felt in a long time.  
"What in Malacath name are you doing out here so late? I nearly hunted you!" Nagrub exclaimed and you hurried over to the comfort of the male. Oh thank you Talos for protecting you!  
"I came seeking.." What did you come seeking for? For them to let some Outlander to stay with them? To beg Ghorbash to protect you? What did you think would happen by coming here?  
"I.. don't know." You finally spoke, making Nagrub raise a brow before nodding.   
"Well, come. It's far to dark for you to walk back home." He spoke as he began to walk towards the wooden fence that you knew well.  
  
When you arrived to Dushnikh Yal, you had noticed that everyone was still awake.. it seemed rather late for them t be up. But then again, you were never here when they went to bed so who knows what time they truly sleep?   
As you entered Burguk's Longhouse, you noticed that everyone turned to look at you. Clearly confused to why you were here, and you didn't know how to explain.  
"It is late, Outlander." Chief Burguk spoke, causing you to nod your head.  
"I know... I apologize, I just.. I had to come." Burguk was confused by your words, but went back to enjoying his ale rather than questioning you. He must have been drinking a while, good.  
"(Name), why are you here?" Ghorbash's voice snapped you out of your thoughts and you turned towards him. The second you saw him, your heart pounded.  
"I.. I had to come and see you.. you all, of course."   
"Why is that? We welcome you here anytime but it is late and dangerous for you to be walking."  
You took a breath and stared at your feet, Ghorbash took notice of this behavior and stared at you. Concern was written on his face, but he quickly wiped it away as he didn't want to seem weak.  
"My husband.. he wishes to move us. Very far.. all the way to Windhelm."  
Ghorbash stood there, silently. Clearly he had no clue what to say to you, but when he did speak, it certainly wasn't what you had wished to hear.  
  
 **  
"Well, it was nice knowing you."**


	5. Chapter five: Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader remembers times with Ghorbash, explaining why reader already has a love for the Orc.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a bit, I had some issues with the editing on this site.

_"You're saying your husband is the one that did that to your face?" Ghorbash questioned as he handed you a piece of bread. Thankfully so as you were starving!  
"... I would rather.. not say." You replied as you stared down at your food. Of course it wasn't   
"An Orc would never hit his wife.. and if he did, he would be the one left with bruises."  
"Well I am no Orc.. nor is my husband."   
"You don't have to be an Orc to act like one.. to stand up for yourself." Ghorbash spoke as he handed you a glass full of ale.  
"True, but it's much more difficult than that, Ghorbash. Trust me.. I would kill him if I could."  
"I don't think anyone would blame you for that." Ghorbash chugged his ale down, wiping his lips to remove the liquid from his lips.   
You felt a bit of sadness filling you. You should've defended yourself. Truly you should.  
"Even the toughest, meanest guys in the Legion never hit their wives. Or their kids.. and if anyone found out they did, they ended up getting.. hit by one of us. Believe it or not, the Redguard loved to beat them up. More so than most of the other members."  
You frowned towards his words and shook your head.   
"Well it seems like I got a bad man."  
"You certainly did." Ghorbash's words were firm, like he was attempting to make you see that you had made a bad choice.. like you had any choice. If you had your choice, you would've never even met that terrible man.  
The rest of the 'meal' was a bit tense and awkward.  
You had not wanted to speak about your husband, as you knew that it would lead to more ridicule or questioning. Surely Ghorbash understood that a lot of the times, there was no choice in a marriage.  
Orcs had to be in arranged marriages as well, right? If not than you were incredibly jealous of them for that.   
"You should learn how to protect yourself." Ghorbash spoke, making you blink.  
"I know how to protect myself, I am a Breton. I am great with magic and potions, and I can-"  
"I meant with a blade, there may be a time that you have no time for magic but you have time for a blade."   
A blade? You had never even tried to learn. Sure, you can protect yourself if need be but you never really.. worried that much about it. What could be so bad that you didn't have time to do a spell? That just sounded insane to you!  
"Come on, let me show you a little but on how you can protect yourself."  
That was an offer that you didn't want to refuse._

* * *

_"You are improving, I am I becoming proud of you, outlander." Ghorbash spoke._   
_You wiped the sweat from you forehead. You were exhausted, you had been working so hard to try and impress Ghorbash.. and of course to better protect yourself._   
_It had been about five days since you started visiting. You had time to come every day, as your husband has been far to busy harassing workers or having his head up the Jarl's ass to even notice you were gone._   
_You were happy about that, he was gone for hours of the day and only had to deal with him at night, which was easy because believe it or not if you were pretending to be asleep when your husband got home, he would just grumble and go to bed himself._   
_"Thank you, Ghorbash." You spoke, feeling absolutely drained from the work. You were going to regret working so much when you had to walk home._   
_"Your swing is still weak, however. You need to eat more filling foods to help you. What do you eat at home?"_   
_"Uh.. soups and stews mainly.."_   
_Ghorbash shook his head towards you, disapproving of the meals._   
_"Soups and stews are fine for a side, but you need a heavy meal. To grow strength. Leg of lamb, grilled chicken, ribs, deer. You need to eat like an orc to get that swing better."_   
_You always had a side of meat.. but your husband generally ate it all, he worked more than you so you didn't mind but.. you were often hungry at bedtime. You'd get up and start to snack at night._   
_Ghorbash walked ahead of you, grabbed something out of some container and handed it to you._   
_"Here, have some of our elk. Eat that tonight and come tomorrow. You will feel powerful in the morning time."_   
_"I couldn't accept this.."_   
_"Yes you can, and you will. Just bring something in exchange for this tomorrow."_   
_So, you accepted it.. and you would be certain to bring something tasty tomorrow for the gift._

_Ghorbash gave you one thing that you never thought you would have. He gave you confidence.. self esteem. He had no motives as to why he was giving you this power, other than to truly make you feel confidence. For the first time in such a long time a man was giving you something with no exterior motives._

_And that was when you knew that you truly had feeling for Ghorbash._


	6. Chapter six: Ghorbash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place in Ghorbash's perspective after the reader leaves to Windhelm. This is a short chapter, the next one will be longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait!  
> The next chapter will be longer, I just had to add some filler lol.

Orcs weren't known to be all that emotional. Men rarely shed a tear, even at a death or birth. But, it was clear that Ghorbash had not been normal the past few days.   
Ghorbash hadn't been training as much as he typically did, rather working in the mines and attempting to avoid everyone.   
That had not gone unnoticed by the Orcs of Dushnikh Yal. This was not typical Orc behavior and Chief Burguk had taken notice.  
When night fell upon the stronghold again, and all were within the longhouse enjoying dinner, Burguk stopped Ghorbash.  
"Ghorbash. We must speak, alone." He informed the male, which slightly put Ghorbash on alert. Had he done something wrong? Was he being kicked out? He didn't know but he didn't like the idea of being alone with the Chief.  
The duo walked towards the Chief's room, the private room meant for just him and his wives.. well, mainly him and Shel.   
"You have been acting strange, brother." Burguk spoke as they entered the room together.   
"Ever since that Breton woman left, you have not been acting yourself. Avoiding us. Not training like you used to."  
"I've been helping in the mines, I thought we needed that."  
"Do not lie to me, brother." Burguk's words were harsh towards Ghorbash, but it seemed like Burguk had to speak like that just to get his brother to tell him the truth.  
"We all know that you liked that Breton girl. For whatever reason, you did. I do not see why you did seeing how she wasn't an Orc and didn't even seem strong bu-"  
"Brother.." Ghorbash warned, though it was known that he wouldn't really do anything to the Chief.  
"Right right. Anyhow. We know that you really liked that woman. We all liked her.. well, tolerated her. Well.." Burguk stopped himself when he saw the annoyed look on Ghorbash's face.  
All this words were true, Ghorbash had grown a weird feeling for the woman. A feeling he had never felt before. It was some cruel joke from Malacath, he knew this.  
He had fallen for a Breton, someone that was already married and now lived far away from them.  
"If you wish, Ghorbash. You can go and get her. I will allow you to journey to get her."   
Ghorbash wasn't completely sure if he heard Burguk right. He was letting him leave just to go and get some random woman? Someone that Burguk didn't even really like all that much? Someone that didn't even know much of the Orc culture or the Orc way of life?!  
"Why would you let me do that?" Ghorbash questioned, causing Burguk to smack his brother on the shoulder.   
"Because you're of no help when you act like this. Acting like a puppy searching for it's owner. You've just been hiding in the mines and not getting anything, I've heard you haven't been much help what so ever but you still just stay there." Burguk spoke, making Ghorbash sigh before he gave his brother a smile.   
"Thank you. I will leave in the morning and return soon."  
"Mhm. Just make sure you bring something other than that woman back. Food, supplies... Bring your personality back so you're of use."   
Ghorbash nodded his head before a slight chuckle escaped his lips. His brother wasn't one to hold back.   
"Of course. I'll bring back supplies and.. hopefully my old self." Ghorbash promised before exiting the room. 

Tomorrow he would go in search of the woman that had wriggled into his heart. It would be a long, difficult journey and he certainly hoped it would be worth it.


End file.
